Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways have been forced into the "heartbreaking" decision to make more than 30 staff redundant after a year destroyed by the pandemic.
 
The railway lines are a major tourist attraction and employer in Gwynedd, bringing a £25 million a year contribution to the local economy and employing 97 staff at the start of 2020.
 
But like many tourism operators their year has been wrecked by Covid-19, with lockdowns, coronavirus restrictions, and travel bans slashing income.
 
They had projected to take in £6 million this year but this has been downgraded to just £1 million.
 
In September they launched a survival plan and warned staff about redundancies.
 
Now they have confirmed 32 workers have been made redundant and total staff numbers are now 60 as other staff have left the organization.
 
Paul Lewin, director and general manager, said, "I've been here helping build up these teams for 20 years, we've gone from a £2 million to a £6 million a year operation in that time. Seeing that damaged and jobs being lost is heartbreaking. I don't think many tourism operators have been hit as hard, our income has gone from £6 million a year to £1 million. But we need to survive, and then build this back up in the future."
 
They have closed the commercial side of the operation in terms of train trips and their cafes, but essential maintenance, which costs around £200,000 a month, has to continue.
 
Part of the reason they have been able to keep on a core team has been from due to the support they have received.
 
Members have donated an incredible £550,000, there has been £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and £100,000 from the Welsh Government's Economic Resilience fund.
 
Some workers have also been placed on the UK Government's furlough scheme, but many have to keep working to ensure a safe restart of services in 2021.
 
Paul said, "If we don't carry on the essential maintenance of the carriages, the tracks, the bridges, then we can't reopen next year. We can't just shut everything down, we need a team of around 50 to continue that work. When people ride on our trains they expect them to be safe, and that is why maintenance must continue."
 
Looking forward they plan to battle through the winter and then hope to see the green shoots of recovery next spring.
 
Paul added, "We expect spring to still be difficult, but are pinning our hopes on summer and autumn returning to some sort of normality."
 
Owen Hughes.